Investigated the relation between prior interracial experience and adjustment of 42 Black freshmen to 2 predominantly White colleges. Interracial experience was defined in terms of ethnic composition (mainly Black, integrated, or mainly White) of a student's neighborhood, high school, and high school friends. A scale measuring adjustment to college, providing indices of several aspects of that adjustment, was administered at 3 times during the academic year. A positive relation was found between amount of prior interracial experience and effectiveness of adjustment. Improvement in adjustment as the year progressed provided additional evidence of the beneficial effect of interracial experience for adjustment to this type of college. Differential rate of improvement for Ss with varying amounts of interracial experience––greatest for those with least experience––indicates that consequences of such prior experiences are not immutable. (55 ref)
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